The Brothers Saotome
by gildy77
Summary: We all know that Ranma is half girl, but what if he had a vengeful halfbrother? This is the story that answers that question. All Ranma 1/2 characters are copyright Rumiko Takahashi. The character Jared Irons Saotome was created by me.


It was a cool spring morning in Tokyo's district of Nerima. Birds happily flew across the sky as the sun began to rise. High above the city, a lone figure stood atop a cliff, looking down upon the city with a slight grin on his face.

"So, this is the Nerima district," he said to himself. "They're down there someplace, so I'd better let them know I'm coming." With that he crossed his arms in front of himself. As he spread them apart, waves of intense heat emitted from them, descending toward the city. "After ten years of chasing, I've finally tracked you down, Genma Saotome. You shall pay for leaving me behind. However, your son shall suffer even more, for he is heir to what is rightfully mine. Prepare yourself, Ranma, because you will soon face the defeat of you life."

Good lord, it's never been this hot at this time of year," Soun commented as he heavily fanned himself. He quickly turned to Genma. "You don't suppose that the master is responsible for this, Saotome?"

I don't think so, Tendo," Genma replied. "Even he has his limits to what he can do. Besides, didn't he leave on a long vacation about a week ago?"

"That's right," Soun realized. "Now that he's gone, we'll have a spare room just in case your wife or anyone else come to visit. The way I see it, nothing can possibly go wrong these next few weeks."

As they began to laugh in celebration of that feeling, Genma stopped as he made a sudden realization. 'There's only one person I know of that could have caused this heatwave, he thought. It had to be him.'

"Is something the matter, Saotome?" Soun asked.

In his usual nervousness, Genma quickly held his behind his head, a bead of sweat hanging from it. "Oh, nothing at all," he assured Soun. "I just remembered that I have to start my shift at Dr. Tofu's clinic." As Genma walked out the front door, he began to quiver with fear. 'I know he's coming for me. The question is: Is he coming for Ranma as well?'

Chapter 1

Enter the Master of Fire: Ranma has a Brother!?

"Thank you, come again." Shampoo said to the customers as they left the Nekohanten. She breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she and her grandmother could close up for lunch hours. Just as she was about to remove her apron, the front door slid open.. She turned around in surprise to see a young man standing in the doorway. His features were completely hidden by the hooded cloak he was wearing. Cheerful as ever, Shampoo greeted him.

"Welcome to Nekohanten. Please have seat." The young man nodded and let her seat him at one of the tables. "What would you like to order?"

"Deluxe seafood ramen, please," he replied calmly.

Shampoo was stunned. How he know that special for the day? She thought. Shrugging, she went to the kitchen to give the order to her grandmother. A few minutes later she returned to his table and served his ramen. She then returned to the kitchen to help with cleaning up.

Ten minutes later, she returned to the table to give her customer the check, only to find an empty table. The chopsticks were neatly placed next to the bowl, which didn't have a single drop of broth or stray noodle in it. But her biggest surprise was a twenty thousand yen bill on the table. Then she noticed the young man at the entrance, just about to leave. "Wait," She called out as she ran up to him. "Your ramen was only 1500 yen. Shampoo give you change."

"That won't be necessary, Shampoo." He replied. "Consider it payback for all that you and your grandmother have done for me in the past." With that, he knelt down, took Shampoo's hand and gently kissed the back of it. "Farewell," he whispered as he got up, opened the door and left, leaving Shampoo very confused. Her grandmother Cologne, however, had been watching the whole time and now her eyes began to narrow.

'So, he has finally come here,' she thought. 'Ranma is great danger.'

All was quiet around the Tendo dojo. Kasumi was busy doing her chores around the house, as usual, while Soun was reading his newspaper. He still wondered what Genma was so worried about earlier that day. Just then, there was a knock at the front gate.

"I'll get it," Kasumi kindly told her father as she walked outside to the gate. She opened it to see a young man kneeling before her. He was wrapped in an old cloak that shadowed his face.

"Please forgive my intrusion," he said in a calm manner as he stood up. "I'm interested in the room you have for rent."

"Why of course," Kasumi replied. "Please come in." She then led him into the living room to meet Soun. "Father, this young man wishes to rent master Happosai's room."

"I see," Soun asserted as he looked at the cloaked figure. "Please have a seat." With that the young man knelt down at the table. "So, who might you be?"

The young man pulled off his hood to reveal locks of hair as red as a blazing fire. His facial features showed that he was American. "My name is Jared Irons." He answered.

"So what bring you to Nerima?" Soun asked.

"I've been looking for my step-father," Jared replied. "He abandoned me when I was very young."

"Oh my," Kasumi gasped. "Who could do such a thing?" Jared was about to answer when an argument from the hallway interrupted him.

"C'mon Pop," Ranma badgered his father. "Why the heck did Akane, Nabiki and I have to walk you home from the clinic anyway!?"

"I'm telling you it's none of your business, boy." Genma answered.

"Just give it a rest, Ranma," Akane interjected. "It's quite obvious that something is really bothering him."

"Who knows," Nabiki sighed. "Maybe it's another fiancée he hasn't told you about."

"Don't even joke about that," Ranma comment angrily. He then turned to Genma. "Is it!?"

"No, of course not!" Genma replied as he entered the living room. "It's probably nothing to..." he instantly stopped in mid sentence as he noticed Jared sitting at the table. "No, it can't be..."

Jared then lifted his head to face Genma. "You...," he muttered bitterly as he stood up. "After all these years of chasing you, revenge is finally mine." He then elicited a lion-like roar that struck Genma like a hammer, knocking him into the wall. Pleased that he had gained the initiative, Jared leaped over the table to face the target of his hatred. "Now it's your turn to suffer." Jared then erupted into a flurry of roundhouse, backfist and elbow strikes, pummeling Genma senseless.

Seeing his father is trouble, Ranma wasted no time in delivering a roundhouse kick to the back of Jared's head. The impact knocked Jared out of his fury and down to his knees. "What the heck do you think you're doing, pal?" Ranma demanded as he pulled Jared up by the collar of his cloak.

"And who are you to interfere with someone's personal business?" Jared answered back.

"Ranma Saotome."

Jared lightly smirked. "Well, well. I never expect you to improve so much after all this time. I must say I'm very impressed...dear brother." A long silence filled the room.

"Brother!?" Ranma responded in shock. He then pulled Jared closer. "What do you mean by that?" It was then that he realized he was asking the wrong person. "Excuse me for a sec, will you?" he said as he let Jared go. The he picked up Genma. "What the hell's going on here, pop?!!" he shouted as he began to throttle him. "Why is this guy calling me his brother?"

"Trust me, boy," Genma assured him. "You wouldn't have remembered. It was a very long time ago."

"IS THAT SUPPOSED TO CALL ME DOWN!?"

"Please take it easy, Ranma," Jared said as he sat back down at the table. "I'll be happy to explain everything for him."

"Yes, I'd like to hear what this is all about as well." Soun agreed as he attempted to light his cigarette. The lighter, however, produced no flame. "Blast it," he cursed. "I knew I should have refilled this thing yesterday."

"Allow me, Mr. Tendo," Jared asserted as he held up the first two fingers of his right hand. He then struck them against his thumb, causing a small gout of flame to appear at the end of them. In a kind motion, he held the flame up to the cigarette, lighting it. He then blew out the flame, it's job finished.

Ranma couldn't believe his eyes. "How'd you do that?"

"I'll explain that soon enough," Jared assured him. "First I'll explain why I called you my brother. You see, long before your mother Nodoka was married to Genma, she was married to Jake Irons, my father and one of Genma's best friends from high school. Two years after I was born, my father was stricken with a fatal illness. His final wish was for Genma to marry Nodoka and raise me as his own son, so that I could learn the way of the martial arts that my father had not been able to teach me."

"But," Akane interrupted. "That would mean that you're Ranma's…"

"…Half-brother." Nabiki finished. "Gee, how ironic," She groaned.

Lightly cocking an eyebrow, Jared continued his story. "Anyway, after Ranma was born, the two of us were brought up by our mother and his father on an equal basis. When Ranma turned seven, Genma took us on a training journey. I assume you know what I'm talking about?" Everyone nodded as he paused. "Good. After a couple of months, Genma told us that it was time to decide who would be his heir to carry on the Anything Goes Dojo. He stated that Ranma and I would fight one another the following morning to see who would be worthy of that right. However, when I awoke that very morning, I found myself all alone." Jared paused as his expression turned to one of sheer bitterness. "They abandoned me! The only things I had with me was the money I had inherited from my father and a scroll containing the secrets of my father's fighting style: Dao Ka. I swore that one day that would find them and prove that I was the rightful hir to the dojo." He then looked over at Ranma and Genma. "And it seems I'm going to fulfill that vow."

"So you wanna fight me, huh?" Ranma shouted as he slammed his hands onto the table. "Anytime, anywhere you want."

"Calm down, Ranma," Jared said seeming to have a bit of assurance in his voice. "I want to prove that I'm worthy of fighting you. I hear that you have many rivals in this town, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Well then, I'd like to fight one of them. If I defeat him, then you and I will fight to see who will carry on this dojo."

"That's fine by me," Ranma agreed. "Either way, I can't wait to see a gaijin like yourself take a severe pounding."

Jared grunted angrily at the sound of the word 'gaijin'. "Watch your mouth, bro. Don't forget that we were raised by the same mother. It seems that you've forgotten any sense of honor she taught us. Now if you all don't mind, I'd like to use the training hall for a little while." With that, Jared got up and walked out of the room.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Ranma?" Soun asked. "You saw what he did with my cigarette. It's obvious that he has some control over fire."

"Don't worry," Ranma assured him. "He doesn't stand a chance against the like of Ryoga, Mousse, or Kuno."

"YAAAAAA!" CRACK! The sound almost made Ranma jump out of his skin. He knew where it came from: the training hall. As he approached, he kept low to the ground so that his brother wouldn't notice him. As he looked inside the hall from behind a bush, he saw Jared standing amidst a small pile of rubble that used to be a cinder block.

Jared then set a new block on the two bricks that held the previous one. Getting down on one knee, he slowly focused on the spot he wanted to strike. Satisfied, he raised his fist upwards. In an instant, a flame took form, surrounding his fist. In a moment of rage, he drove his fist downward. As he struck the block, it shattered into millions of pieces, scattering everywhere. Proud of his work, Jared walked out of the training hall.

Ranma was completely shocked by what he had just seen. Just then, he felt a tapping on his shoulder. Surprised, he whirled around to face Akane, who was holding P-chan.

"Seems like he's not just all talk, like you," she said sarcastically.

"Don't worry," Ranma assured her, his gaze mostly on P-chan. "I know someone would be perfect for him to fight against." The little black pig knew who Ranma had in mind.

….To Be Continued

Preview of next chapter:

Akane: So Ranma, what makes you think Ryoga's got a chance of defeating Jared? What do you mean you've got a fool-proof plan? Let's just hope that it doesn't backfire

Next time on Ranma ½:

JARED VS. RYOGA!

BEHOLD THE FIRES OF MY RAGE!

See you then!

Author's not: Roughly translated into English, Dao Ka means "Way of Fire"


End file.
